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Decade to build new port
The state government is planning for the Port of Hastings to
begin easing the load at the Port of Melbourne from the mid2020s.
At that stage a road and rail transport corridor will be used to
carry goods from Hastings to Dandenong.
The government’s Victoria – The Freight State report includes
the Western Port Highway being upgraded to “full freeway
standard”.
When fully operational, the Port of Hastings is being designed
to handle nine million standard-sized containers a year.
The port is also being designated for bulk and general cargo.
The release of Victoria -The Freight State last month coincided
with the Port of Hastings Development Authority seeking
consultants to conduct site investigations in preparation to
expand the port.
Authority CEO Mike Lean sees calling for tenders as “a
significant new milestone in the evolution of the port”.
He said the authority, tenderers and government agencies

would work to ensure “that any potential environmental impacts
are well understood and managed during investigations”.
“Our approach at every stage will be to avoid or minimise any
environmental impacts and we are confident that these works can
be conducted safely and with minimal impact,” Mr Lean stated in
a news release.
The work programs covered marine and land geotechnical
investigations and a marine geophysics survey. The results would
provide the authority with “critical contemporary baseline data
required to inform port expansion planning over the next four
years”.
“These investigation works will be vital to ensuring that we
have a comprehensive understanding of the conditions that exist
both on land and under the sea bed as we get on with the job of
planning to expand the port,” Mr Lean said.
It was “vital” to accelerate the expansion of the Port of
Hastings “if Victoria is to retain its status as the nation’s freight
and logistics capital and secure our economic future”.

Expansion seen as a threat to bay ecology
shipping traffic in Western Port could
reach local shorelines within minutes and
high conservation areas within less than
six hours,” VNPA spokesman Simon
Branigan said.
“We aren’t talking about oil tankers, but
rather heavy fuel oil and diesel spills from
container ships and port support vessels.”
The research modelled six oil spill
scenarios based on 27 previous oil
spill accidents across Australia since
1970. Computer modelling tracked the
spills over a two‐week period from two
locations within Western Port.
“The modelling shows Phillip Island
Nature Park is vulnerable to oil spill
contamination, and French Island Marine

2323

The federal government is being pressured
to undertake an environmental assessment
of Western Port before any expansion of
the Port of Hastings.
Environmentalists fear the port
expansion requires major dredging,
clearing of mangroves and road and rail
transport corridors through Gippsland,
the Mornington Peninsula and suburban
Melbourne.
The Victorian National Parks
Association says research has shown the
bay’s “globally significant marine and
coastal wetlands” face “huge damage”
from oil spills.
“The new research found that even
relatively small amounts of oil spilled from

National Park is also at high risk of
exposure. It also highlighted the fact that
once oil is in the water it will be hard to
stop,” Mr Branigan said.
“Any proper assessment must consider
environmental impacts, all risks and
alternative port locations with links to
national transport planning.”
All of Western Port is listed under the
international Ramsar convention. It is
home to 32 species of migratory birds
protected by international agreements,
making its waters and shorelines subject to
national environmental laws.
The VNPA says the port expansion
plans will see shipping traffic increase
from less than 100 ships a year to 3000.

Mr Lean said Victoria – The Freight State confirmed an
expanded Port of Hastings was “critical to securing the economic
vitality of Victoria and cementing Victoria’s status as the freight
and logistics capital of the country”.
The plan “underscored” the need for the expansion by the mid2020s “to accommodate significant growth in container trade …
including bigger vessels carrying larger loads”.
“With the Port of Melbourne expected to reach capacity by
the mid-2020s and Victoria’s container freight task projected
to quadruple by 2050, the expansion of the Port of Hastings is
essential to meet the freight challenges of the future,” Mr Lean
said.
“The plan confirms that with existing deep water access and
sea and land-side infrastructure located at the doorstep of key
consumer markets and growing manufacturing areas to the south
and east of Melbourne, expanding the Port of Hastings is the
logical step for securing Victoria’s freight and logistics sector.”
Mr Lean said the geotechnical works would “give us an upto-date baseline of important information such as soil and rock
characteristics of the local land-side and marine conditions in the
port development site and surrounds”.
“For more than 40 years, Hastings has been identified as
the site for a major port and industrial development and more
than 3000 hectares of land is zoned for port-related use. We are
looking forward to finally realising this vision and to creating a
world-class facility to help secure Victoria’s economic future.”

Don’t call – it’s the law
Australian Communications and
Media Authority investigations
have found Teleus Pty Ltd, a
telecommunications provider,
and Flexi Marketing Solutions
Pty Ltd, a promoter of holiday
accommodation deals,
made calls to numbers on
the Do Not Call Register.
“Investigations have identified
the two businesses that have
missed the mark with their
telemarketing,” said acting
ACMA chairman Richard Bean.
“It’s against the law, it’s a waste
of time and money – and it’s
a threat to your reputation
telemarketing to consumers who
don’t want to hear from you.”

Rosella brands flies on
Rosella, the iconic Australian
tomato sauce, soup and
chutney brand which took pride
of place in Australian homes
for almost 120 years, has
been saved from extinction.
Rosella products will live to see
another day after Australian
family-owned business
Sabrands stepped in and
bought the label after production
ceased earlier this year.
Sabrands said it now had
“the privilege of becoming
guardians to this iconic brand,
which has been loved by
five generations of Australians”.

FUTURE OFFICES DESIGNED AROUND FLEXIBILITY, CONNECTIVITY
Office space is being reshaped to give employees
digital connectivity and the freedom to work in
either formal or relaxed settings.
Rising rentals are driving the trend to small offices
as businesses embrace a new dimension of open plan
spaces with multiple connectivity points, allowing
employees to work from anywhere at any time.
Office fitout specialist FDC Construction & Fitouts
have created workspace choices for Sydney corporate
health management company, Injury Treatment
Physiotherapist and Injury Treatment’s managing
director Jeremy Keane believes the new flexibility
will increase employee morale, productivity and
engagement.
“We are seeing an emergence of a new generation
of corporate culture that focuses on team outcomes
over hierarchy or individual achievement. This has a
positive impact on the office atmosphere, increases
leader access, clears internal communication channels
and promotes equity, giving a platform to a more
innovative, responsive and flexible workforce.”
FDC boss Ben Cottle said the futuristic ‘lifestyle
workplace’ has been used as inspiration for the new
CBRE office in Sydney’s CBD.
He said the concept of activity-based working

has been taken to the next level with open plan
spaces, lounge areas, conferencing pods and traditional private desks, encouraging employees to
move and work from whichever space they feel
most comfortable.
Productivity has increased while the environmental impact has been minimised, with a decrease
in energy consumption of 61 per cent (based on a
comparison of April 2012 and April 2013) and a
drastic reduction in paper usage.
The George St office has a space saving of almost
30 per cent while staff has access to a 65 per cent
increase in meeting rooms.

SMEs ARE LEAVING FRAUD DOOR WIDE OPEN, SAY ADVISORS
An increasing number of SMEs are failing to protect
themselves against the risks of employee fraud according to accounting and advisory firm William Buck.
Head of the firm’s audit focus group, Leo Tutt,
said many SMEs were overlooking basic control
procedures, leaving the door open for opportunistic
employees.
“Across our firm, there’s no doubt we’re hearing about more cases of employee fraud than ever
before,” he said.
“Whether it’s a lack of understanding or putting

n Bizzquiz
Cameron Taylor
started his
career in the
1980s as an
apprentice with
Michael Flouch
in Mornington.
He then moved
to The National
Golf Club and
Peter Rowland Catering. By the time he
was 21 he had started The Grainery, a
deli and catering business. Then came
Conrad’s Alfresco, at Mt Eliza, and, in

too much trust in their employees, many business
owners are failing to identify and rectify weaknesses
in their processes.
“Generally, there’s always some sort of control
flaw or failing that enables fraud to take place.”
Tutt said some of the ‘red flags’ for fraud that
business owners should be looking out for include
inconsistent results with expectations or trends, key
people never taking leave, a lack of documentation
for transactions and a failure to complete timely
reconciliations.

2003, Verde Restaurant. Verde was sold
in 2011 enabling Taylor to focus on the
old Boathouse Restaurant in Frankston
and later launching the Crackerjack
Waterfront Cafe at Seaford.
I dreamed of being ... a rock star.
My first paid job was ... my own gardening round
with my dad’s lawnmower.
In 10 years I will be ... one year away from
retirement, I hope.
Our business planning entails ... balancing the
wage structure through the use of trainees and
apprenticeships.
Tip for success ... Don’t rely on banks and
[remember] your landlord thinks of himself first.

I am inspired by ... businesses that create niche
ideas and implement them successfully.
Anyone starting a business should ...
reconsider, it’s a very tough economy and it will
take some time to turn around.
I’ll know I’m successful when ... the bank
doesn’t own my house.
My mother and father always told me ... to look
in the classifieds and pick the industry with the
most jobs on offer.
I wish I had ... bought that block of land in
Shoreham rather than the Cordia Turbo.
I wish I had not ... developed a taste for red wine
and blue cheese.

SHOPPERS STILL ONLINE DESPITE RETAIL DOWNTURN
Australian consumers are still spending despite the
tough time being experienced by domestic retailers .
The problem, according to retailers, is that traditional customers are seeking bargains on overseas
shopping websites.
A drop in the Australian dollar is making overseas
purchases more expensive and may curtail buying
activity, but the $1000 GST-free threshold remains
an attraction to online shoppers trawling beyond
our shores.
The Age reported on 19 August that overseas
retailers avoided paying the GST on more than
$6.2 billion worth of goods shipped to Australian
shoppers last year.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimated
that domestic online retail sales in 2012-13 totalled
more than $4.5 million.
ABS estimated that the value of goods imported
under the low value threshold (LTV) was more than
$6.2 billion in 2011-12. e-books, films, apps and
online papers were not included in the estimate.
The big numbers are fuelling the anger of Australian retailers struggling through a protracted
downturn in consumer spending.
They want the government to scrap the $1000

Look for inconsistent results with
expectations or trends, key people never
taking leave, a lack of documentation for
transactions and a failure to complete
timely reconciliations.

employer can take, such as enforcing compulsory
annual leave, ensuring there are clear reporting
channels and senior management takes an active
interest in monitoring fraud.
“Most importantly though, having internal controls
in place, as well as implementing third-party checks
are the best ways of managing fraud.”
Tutt highlighted external audits as being extremely
effective in helping business owners manage employee fraud.
“The key thing that external audits provide is
independent assessment and comparison to best
practice.”

Dandenong office
A 16,000 square metre
commercial building will be
built on vacant land near
Dandenong train station.
ASX-listed Cromwell Group
purchased the unbuilt
office complex as part of
a $77 million deal from
EPC Pacific last month.
It will accommodate 850 staff
from the Australian Tax Office.
The new building is one of
Places Victoria’s biggest
commercial initiatives in the
$500 million state government
initiated redevelopment
program to reinvigorate
Victoria’s second city.
The project is part of the state
government’s redevelopment
of land between the station,
Dandenong Plaza and Robinson
St commercial area.

Chamber golf day
Frankston Business Chamber is
hosting a golf day on Friday, 18
October, at Peninsula Country
Golf Club, Skye Rd, Frankston.
Registration opens at 11.30am
with tee-off starting at
12.30pm after a light lunch.
Prizes include a car for a
hole-in- one sponsored
by Jeff Wignall Group.
Details: Greater Frankton
Business chamber info@
frankstonchamber.com.
au or 97881 1422.

2344

“Employers need to focus on having processes
in place to prevent fraud from occurring, rather
than trying to deal with it after the fact,” he said.
“Training in fraud awareness, a fraud policy and
conducting pre-employment and employee screening are all ways of proactively managing the issue.
“There are other more practical measures an

GST-free threshold on goods bought from overseas
websites by Australian shoppers.
However, the Productivity Commission report
on retail found that while lowering the threshold
to $20 would raise more than $550 million in tax
revenue, it would cost more than $2 billion collect.
Undeterred, the the nation’s biggest retail lobby
group, the National Retail Association, criticised
Australia Post in 2011 for what it saw as its assistance to the growth of offshore online retailers
at the expense of local shops and jobs.
Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said in 2011 that
retailer’s claims about losing serious business to
overseas online retailers were exaggerated.
“I think when it does come to clothing there is
a significant threat to the industry from internet
sales but we’ve all got to become more competitive,”
Hockey was reported as saying.
“We can’t close our eyes and think the internet’s
going to go away and we just need to adapt and
find new ways of being competitive.”
Bigcommerce.com claims that the number of online
retail entrepreneurs is up 200 per cent in two years
and that Aussie online consumer confidence leads
the world.

Award-winning Bathurst
winemaker Mike Burleigh
praised the philosophy and
format of Frankston Wine and
Food Society at its second lunch
at The Boathouse Restaurant on
31 July.
Mr Burleigh said that the lunch
was one of the best organised
functions he had attended – “and
I have been to a few”.
1: Boathouse Gallery co-owner
Brian Mellady (centre) with
Proudly Frankston convenor Alan
Wickes (left) and wine and food
society president Kevin Johnson.
2: Winemaker Mike Burleigh, of
Winburndale Vineyard (right)
with his brother-in-law Tim
Berger (left) and wine and food
society committee member Irene
Day.
The Orphans of Ghana charity
Ball and auction was held
at Mornington Race Course’s
Gunnamatta Room on 10 August.
3. Vanessa Mangan, of The
Vintage Emporium, Tyabb, with
milliner Annette Sanfilippo
4. Judy and Michael Ellis, of Mt
Eliza. Michael is the BusinessTimes health columnist.
5. Susie and John Morgan, of
Wise Choice catering and event
management, a sponsor of the
charity ball.
6. Friends Wendy Saville (left),
D’nes Eden, Sally Jinks (front)
and Vanessa McDonough,
7. Weekly lunch meeting at
Mornington Golf Club on
7 August. Garry Ebbott, of
Melbourne Office Supplies, (left)
with Emma Morris, of Travel
Counsellors, and William Luke, of
Pinant Financial Planning.
8. Wayne Lock, of SWAT Business
Solutions, and Steve Gagliardi, of
AllStates Safety Services.

Body language to avoid
Body language can be an extremely powerful attraction or deterrent when
it comes to building business relationships.
There are basically four body language
cues to avoid while networking.
People check you out visually within the
first seven seconds of meeting you.
Could you be unknowingly undermining
your networking efforts through your body
language? If you are, meeting with new
prospects or planning to host a mixer at
your place of business, you’d better make
sure you are not discouraging people from
approaching you because of your body
language.
Eye contact. Are you making good eye
contact throughout the conversation? Or
are you looking behind the person to see
who else is in the room?
Some of the most powerful and
successful business leaders in the world
are known for the impressions they make
during face-to-face meetings. Their eyes
never waver from those of the person they
are speaking to, making that person feel
they are – at least for that moment – the
most important person in the room. It’s
something that anyone can do, with a little
practice.
Arm movement. What are your arms
doing? Are they folded (“I’m bored”)
or tucked behind your back (“I’m
interested”)?
Networking events are a great
opportunity to learn more about what
potential prospects need, so you can help
fulfill that need.
If you converse with your arms in a
position that gives even a subliminal
impression that you are not at all interested,

Dr lvan Misner*

Networking specialist

Tired, bored ... or both. This is not a look for
successful networking

you’re not going to learn much at all.
Your stance. Are you standing in a
manner that is open and welcoming, or
blocking people out of your conversation?
Are you leaning on something, as if bored
or tired? Are you unable to shake hands
because you’re juggling a plateful of food?
Facial expressions. Are you smiling, or
holding back a yawn? Are you showing
interest? What does your face say?
Maintaining an interested facial
expression goes hand in hand with
maintaining eye contact, as already
discussed above.
It should go without saying that yawning

while someone is talking to you is a great
way to shut them down immediately,
but I have seen it more times than I can
count while observing conversations at
networking events.
Try these two actions in the next few
weeks to help ensure that you are making
positive and powerful first impressions:
Look in the mirror before leaving the
house and ask yourself: “What message am
I sending to those who are meeting me for
the first time? What opinions will they have
of me before I even open my mouth?”
First impressions are strong, and much
of your future success at sharing referrals
with people you are meeting for the first
time rides on how you come across. You
will want to leave them with the impression
that they just met a person who is alert,
interested, knowledgeable, honorable, and
– most importantly – trustworthy.
Become more aware of your body
language by getting feedback. What are you
saying without speaking a word? Before
you host your own event, take someone
with you to a networking function and ask
them to provide honest, direct feedback on
your body language.
Some people are very good at noticing
any “red flags” and hopefully you are both
comfortable with them sharing what they
notice with you. It might help to provide
them with a small checklist of the four
factors discussed in this article. A little
feedback can go a long way to helping you
present yourself in the best way possible.
*Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling
author. He is the Founder and Chairman of
BNI, the world’s largest business networking
organisation. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner
for the Referral Institute, an international referral
training company.

Online and up to the minute
Businesses have a new
promotion option. along with the
hard copy of our magazine, our new
website offers effective and attractive
advertising opportunities.

Central Frankston’s parking needs will
be identified in a report to the council
next May. The report will assess parking
supply and demand based on development
potential identified in Frankston Central
Activities Area’s (FCAA) structure plan.
Also, the report will:
• Review car parking rates included in the
planning scheme and determine whether
any should be varied;

Frankston Council is targeting
abandoned shopping trolleys by
tightening local laws. A new amendment
allows officers to issue infringement
notices to store operators for each trolley
“not collected in a timely manner”.
Retailers have agreed to work with
council on an education campaign to
encourage shoppers to return trolleys to
stores and trolley bays.

Call 1800 NOVABK
that’s 1800 668 225

2351

Mornington Peninsula Shire said it
expects the state government to quickly
flag any proposals for commercial
development in the 560-ha Point Nepean
National Park. Council wants regular
reports “at the earliest opportunity”
about responses to the government’s call
for expressions of interest for investment
at historic Quarantine Station. Council is
the owner under trust of the neighbouring
20 hectare Police Point Park.

• Identify sites for construction of new car
parks;
• Estimate the cost of car spaces based on
construction and land costs;
• Determine the share of costs to
developers and the community; and
• Identify implementation mechanisms.
A consultant, expected to be engaged by
the end of September, will produce a draft
report for pubic consultation by January
and the final report in April.
A state government grant matched by
council will help fund the plan.

www.novabk.com.au

NN
• A

N
OU

CEM

ENT

Retailers previously combined to have a
full-time collection in central Frankston.
However, current collectors work for
individual stores so they drive past
trolleys belonging to other retailers. In the
past 12 months about 425 trolleys were
impounded and 231 were released, costing
traders $52.50 for each one. In the same
period 102 trolleys were sent for crushing.

LEASES FOR TRANSFIELD
Transfield has renewed five-year leases for
two depots with Mornington Peninsula
Shire. Annual rent on the depot in Watt
Rd, Mornington, if $142,000 while that
for the one in Pound Rd, Hastings, is
$20,000. Transfield last year won three
10-year maintenance contracts with the
shire worth $192 million. The latest
leasing arrangement came in the same
week that Transfield downgraded its profit
forecast for the year to $62m-$65m and
announced it would shed 113 jobs.
The company had previously estimated
its yearly profit at $85m-$90m.
•
2328

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Members
in this region reported over $9 Million in generated business
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from
BNI last year.
We
build referral networks around your business and you benefit with
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long 
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Why not attend a meeting your local area where you can meet and
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connect
with other local business and see what opportunities await you

and your business.


For your nearest group see our website or call 9782 0555

SkillsPlus is excited to announce its partnership with BRACE
Education and Training. BRACE has an extensive history
of providing high quality training support to businesses
across Victoria’s Western regions and is now combining with
SkillsPlus to collectively offer a broader range of services to
more businesses across the state.
For more information on how SkillsPlus and BRACE Education &
Training can help your business, please call us on 03 9784 0400
or visit our website at www.skillsplus.com.au

The company run by husband and wife team Travis and Kylie
Robertson stretches from the elemental to the cloud. Clearing weeds
and restoring bushland seamlessly meshes with information accessed
from the cloud by portable devices – smart phones and tablets.
After years working for another company in the same field (Kylie,
10 years, and Travis, 5), they decided it was “time to do it our way”
and eight years ago established SEEDS Bushland Restoration and
Environment Education.
The Robertsons remain on good terms with their former employer
and believe there is enough work for both companies to survive and
thrive.
When they decided to go it along they were living in inner
Melbourne, commuting daily to the Mornington Peninsula.
Their first major job, clearing roadside weeds, led to more offers
of work and a decision to live on the peninsula.
A rented house in Mornington became their office and depot, with
equipment and chemicals stored in the garage.
They banked on their reputation to bring in more work and drew
up a business plan that involved a staff of four “at the same time as
having our kids”, Kylie says.
“Within six months we had six people [working for us] and
quickly outgrew the house, so we moved to [a rural property at]
Moorooduc. It was just too hard in residential Mornington for six
people to find a park every morning.”
SEEDS has now been at Moorooduc for seven years, based in a
portable classroom brought from Point Nepean National Park where
it had been earmarked for demolition.
Eradicating weeds, preventing erosion and restoring bushland is

Kylie and Travis Robertson started their business, SEEDS, eight years ago, undertaking bush

BY KEITH PLATT

e

p
rewarding for the committed environmentalists. The Robertsons
use “low environmental impact” chemicals and reduce their carbon
footprint by planting trees.
Satisfying as it is, working in the environment comes with its own
hazards and occupational health and safety requirements are one of
the major considerations of any job.
“We have a duty of care to employ contractors who are working
in a safe manner and check that they meet standards and requirements,” Kylie Robertson says.
The OH&S manual for each job runs from 30 to 140 pages and
includes a safety analysis, assessing each site for the impact of fire or
any other type of emergency.
SEEDS now has 16 employees, many who are “out in the bush
each day - kind on an ideal job”.
Computer tablets issued to teams working at remote sites carry all
the details of the job, enabling them to keep an eye on weather or

bushland restoration and environment education. Today the company has 16 employees.

emergency alerts and have mapping and GPS capabilities.
“Any inspectors attending the work site can be shown our OH&S
plans and site audit,” Trevor Robertson says. “We’re tech savvy.”
“Everyone here is passionate about the environment and conservation, it’s what keeps you going all these years,” Kylie says.
“It can get frustrating wanting things to shift in the environment
on a bigger scale. Sometimes that’s to our detriment, being sensitive
and caring so much for the environment.”
A new direction for SEEDS has been environmental education,
installing an “audio trail” along a boardwalk at Mt Martha for the
Balcombe Estuary Rehabilitation Group (BERG).
Audio recordings describing the environment at various points of
the trail can be accessed by pointing a smart phone or tablet at a QR
code fixed to a post.
There are two choices at each of the nine audio stations, one that
gives information about the location’s natural, historical and cultural
significance for grown ups and the educational walk, guided by
Wally the Swamp Wallaby, for five to 15 year olds.
The success of the audio trail follows the failure of what seemed

a good idea to create another type of interactive environmental
experience. The Robertsons bought a glass-bottomed boat capable
of carrying 22 passengers over reefs and seabed. During the trip
groups would listen to a marine biologist.
“Someone had to be there all the time and the biologist went off
and got another job,” Trevor Robertson says.
Schooling the children from home added pressure to the running
of SEEDS which saw the Robertsons take stock and acknowledge
that bushland restoration “was 95 per cent of our business, it was
our core”.
“But we would love the audio trails to become part of our future,”
Kylie says.
“It can be hard working in the bush for so many years and these
little projects help keep staff happy.
“It’s also essential for the environment that people understand it
and the value for mental wellbeing of spending time there.”
From the Robertsons perspective, their job is all about avoiding
“nature deficit disorder”. The rewards include providing healthy
environments where people can enjoy the benefits of “green time”.

Making the right connection
BY KEITH PLATT
Joe Samara is an international
businessman. Smart phones, computers
and, most importantly, connections in
North Africa and the Middle East, make
him invaluable to Australian companies
seeking Arab markets.
Samara has proved many times over
that selling a good product can be
achieved by knowing the market.
Distance is no problem, provided the
item being introduced and sold is needed
and approaches are made to the right
potential customers.
Although he operates from an
upstairs room in his Frankston home,
Samara’s overseas contacts and extensive
knowledge over the past 33 years of how
business operates in Middle East have
made him a go-to man.
He has “introduced” a range of
products and technologies to the Middle
East region - Saudi Arabia, AUE, Kuwait,
Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, Lebanon,
Oman and Syria. He lived in the region
from 1984 to 2004.
Samara chooses not to describe himself
as a middleman or broker. He is more
easily classified as running a “business
introduction and advisory agency”.
If you have a product that he believes
can find a sales niche in the Middle
East, he will contact suitable interested
companies and accompany you on the
first business trip to assess the market.
Samara was born in Palestine and
served with the British army’s Arab
Legion from 1953 to 1970 before retiring
as a lieutenant colonel.
He met his wife Diane, an Australian,
while she was working as a nurse in
Britain. They came to Melbourne in 1972.
Samara says that he made “strong
connections” through his military service
with governments and commercial and
industrial leaders throughout North
Africa and the Middle East.
He joined McDonalds Fast Foods
in Melbourne in 1972 and over the
following four years opened, operated
and supervised many restaurants,
including ones at Frankston, Noble Park,
South Oakley, Swanston St, Geelong,
Ballarat, Bendigo, St Kilda, Croydon

‘Export grants are available
through Austrade and I select
only companies that have
potential, so there is no time or
money wasted.’
and Nunawading. He says McDonalds
owes its success to founder Ray Crock, an
ex-military man, hiring former soldiers as
company executives to manage “regimentally”.
In 1978 Samara joined the non-government aid organisation Australind
and managed the first refugee camp
in Bangladesh after the war between India
and Pakistan.
“In 1980 I took the owners of a

Dandenong company making electrical
automatic entrances to Saudi Arabia. In
1982 the company completed a $6 million
contract to supply and installed 600
automatic entrances at Riyadh International Airport,” he says.
That same year Samara was appointed
vice-president of a Saudi industrial group
that, by 1986, had 1200 staff and had
established an aluminium and stainless
steel fabrication division and glass
processing plant. Another joint venture
(building car covers) followed in 1992.
“There was a construction boom in
Saudi and the Arabian Gulf region and
a need for everything to be imported,”
Samara says.
“Between 1982 and 2004 we were
living in Saudi Arabia at compounds for
executive expats.”
Since 2004 Samara has continued

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

assisting Australian companies to export
products, technology and know how to
Saudi Arabia and the region.
He established business relations with
Austrade and the Victorian Department of
Innovation. Australian companies he has
helped “penetrate” Middle East markets
over the past nine years include Ultra
Tune in Saudi and Bahrain; MT Data for
vehicle tracking; National Safety Agency
for police and safety agencies; and Eco
Australia for waste management in Saudi
(landfills, domestic waste and construction waste).
“I look to see what is needed in the
region and find Australian technologies to
suit,” Samara says.
“I approach Australian companies and
arrange for them a fact-finding mission to
present their technologies and know how
to interested local companies.
“The product and know how is
transferred to local committed companies
in the region through exclusive distribution or joint venture legal arrangements.”
Samara says he normally pays his own
way for the first overseas visit.
Over the years Samara has been invited
to join the joint boards of the Australians
and overseas companies.
“I then have a responsibility to both
companies and they feel comfortable
together.”
One of his latest projects is working
with Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens
to introduce its Children’s Ground
concept to the Al Hasa region in Saudi
Arabia.
“The plan is to replicate the interactive
children’s play area but with trees
and shrubs able to survive the desert
environment. Hopefully, it will spread
to other municipal regions and provide
children with something to learn.”
Samara has been building his “niche” in
the Middle East since 1982.
“Export grants are available through
Austrade and I select only companies that
have potential, so that there is no time or
money wasted.
“There have been no big failures and
I will always know from the first visit if
there is potential.
“It is important to select the right
Middle Eastern partner so there is a long
lasting business relationship.
“This is the experience I have gained
over 35 years.”

Young pros say success is more than work
Young professionals want employers to
look beyond the workplace when
considering career development, according
to research commissioned by Certified
Practising Accountant (CPA) Australia.
The report into understanding the
motivations of young professionals by the
nation’s peak accountancy body revealed a
clear message about the value of a “whole
person” approach to up-skilling and career
progression.
Australia’s young professionals “want
it all, but want it on their own terms”
with personalised options for their needs.
They expect organisations to value their
career and personal goals in equal measure,
recognising them as time-poor individuals
with many demanding roles, within and
beyond their work.
CPA Australia said it has refined the
foundation level of its CPA Program in the
wake of the report’s findings. Foundation
level is a stepping-stone that helps formalise
training and provides a pathway to
becoming a Certified Practising Accountant
(CPA). The foundation level allows young
workers to do things on their terms by
providing both flexibility and convenience
through a choice of study and exam time
lines and distance learning.
Rob Thomason, CPA’s executive general
manager of business Development, said:
“As a result of the research, we better
understand the mix of ambition, personalisation and mentoring that young people are
seeking in the accounting industry.
“Staff want to keep up with their peers
and differentiate themselves, while having
access to mentors and networks – and
it’s as much about their journey as their
destination.”
Thomason said that understanding what
drives young professionals and providing
up-skilling opportunities with flexibility
and convenience was beneficial for all.
“Employees want more guidance and
organisations stand to reap ongoing
benefits by assisting staff to formalise their
training. Teams that train together, work
better together.”
The report found employees in their
20s and 30s had key needs and mindsets,
including:
• Work-life balance: Family and health are
priorities

• Financial security: Comfortable work
and family life to maintain a successful life
• Recognition of the whole person:
Support from the workplace in reaching
career and personal goals
• Inspiration: New thinking and
development of new skills
• Choices: They need the organisation to
consider them as a time-poor individual
with various roles and responsibilities
The report also found that helping staff
to up-skill and formalise qualifications
increases the organisation’s output, ethics
and governance.
Melissa Mariani, assistant accountant
at Phillip Island National Park, works
in a small team so her role is varied and
practical.
“I’m not just looking at numbers and
putting it in a report, so further education
was essential for me. Working on Phillip
Island meant distance was an issue but the
foundation level allowed flexibility that I
needed.
“Not only did I gain additional
knowledge but confidence in the knowledge
I’d already acquired through my work.
“One day I’d like to be the financial
controller here, and the foundation level
will definitely help me progress my career.”
Mariani said.
The report gathered insights from
employers and young professionals transitioning from tertiary education into their
first years of employment.

‘Top Brands’ a Virtual success
Mornington Peninsula digital media agency The Virtual Network
will have its new series Top Brands screened on Melbourne’s
Channel 31, premiering on 2 September.
Based on interviews with entrepreneurs and business leaders
behind iconic Australian brands, the 12-episode series will air
on the prime 7pm slot on Mondays. Presenter Chris Blaber said
Top Brands was expected to reach around 300,000 viewers over
the next three months across Victoria. Sharing their strategies
and views on a chieving success are RedBalloon founder Naomi
Simson, Vaughan Bowen of the $1Billion ASX-listed M2 Telecom
Group (Dodo & iPrimus Telecom Parent Company), cartoonist
and National Living Treasure Michael Leunig, Collingwood
Magpies CEO Garry Pert and Fernwood Fitness visionary and
multimillionaire Diana Williams.
“The series started as just a small fun idea that was designed
as an online and email newsletter series to give business advice to
our clientele… I could never of dreamt that it was going to reach
hundreds of thousands of people and get this type of success,”
Blaber said, a digital marketing strategist.
“When Channel 31 contacted us to say they loved the series and
wanted it to go to air as their major prime time program it was
quite a shock”.
Top Brands will be repeated throughout the week on Channel
31. For details visit www.TheVirtualNetwork.com.au/TopBrands
or follow the series on twitter @TVN_Media.

Some of our experts
Professional solutions for the South East

Pitcher Partners, a leading Melbourne accounting,
audit and advisory firm, has been helping
businesses like yours for more than 20 years.
And soon, we will be opening an office in the
South East Region to provide practical business
advice and professional solutions in a location
that’s convenient to you.

DOES OUTSOURCING REALLY AD UP?

For more information contact
David Knowles or Vicki Macdermid on

(03) 8610 5000

Level 1, 80 Monash Drive, Dandenong South Vic 3175

Independent Member of Baker Tilly International

2322

www.pitcher.com.au/southeast

Barb Scott*
Business owners will have probably heard that one of the secrets
to business success is to delegate, delegate, delegate.
Also, these owners would be painfully aware of the hours
wasted trying to manage a long list of repetitive, uninteresting but
totally necessary tasks.
While annoying, ignoring these administrative tasks is risky.
Owners end up with their paperwork in chaos, the Tax Office and
the accountant on their backs, no idea if they are making a profit
or, worse, causing the business to fail.
If you don’t have anyone who can take of this work, you end up
having to cram it into your already busy day. Outsourcing may be
one way you can relieve yourself of the pressure and reclaim some
precious time.

Making a decision about outsourcing
really comes down to a question
about how much you value your time.
Outsourcing is not just a time-management issue: money can be saved, too.
*Barb Scott, is director of Admin Angels,
www.admin-angels.com.au

low cost virtual offices
A virtual office at Peninsula Serviced
Offices Frankston offers businesses a
professional image with an impressive
business address, phone number, mail
services and telephone answering service,
all from any location.
The virtual office concept targets start
up companies, businesses operating a
home office, as well as business people
travelling frequently or operating in
greater Melbourne.
The serviced office team of Christine
McGrattan and Sarah Dimitri offer
support as clients grow their businesses.
Clients have access to onsite facilities

including corporate boardrooms or
meeting rooms, secretarial and administrative support as well as a free gym
membership.
The six virtual office packages can be
tailored to client business requirements
ensuring they receive a level of services
required to grow a business in a cost
effective way. For details about virtual
offices contact Asian Pacific Serviced
Offices, 9863 7888 or enquiries@asianpacificservicedoffices.com.au.

super guarantee changes
There are two main changes to Superannuation Guarantee Contributions (SGC)
from 1 July – the percentage increased to
9.25 per cent and the employee upper age
limit of 70 was removed. So, what do you
do if you are a salaried employee of your
own business by way of a company or a
trust, and you are more than 70 years old?
It could become an administrative
burden to handle this SGC if you do not
have an existing superannuation fund in

Incorporating Houlgate Saint-Pern

existence.
Mornington-based MBA Business
Solutions see these possible solutions:
• Structure your business so that no
salary is paid; instead you receive either
dividends or trust distributions.
• If this is not possible (e.g. your
business derives its income from your
personal services), then there are two
options to discuss with your financial
adviser:
- Establish a Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) which can receive the
SG contributions, then pay you a tax free
pension; or
- If the amount of contribution does
not warrant the expense of operating a
SMSF, then you could consider opening
a Retirement Savings Account (RSA) in
which to deposit the contributions.
See APRA for recognised RSA providers
- http://www.apra.gov.au/super/pages/listof-institutions-offering-retirement-savingsaccounts.aspx

A Paris Group firm

Incorporating Houlgate Saint-Pern

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Accounting

Did your footy team get up?
If your premiership hopes are in mothballs, maybe you had the
consolation of your political team winning. Most of us were barracking for
one on election night.
It always feels good to be on the winning
side. We feel somehow elevated and vindicated. Why is that, I wonder? Is it some
sort of hangover from more tribal times? A
victory for the clan? (Regular readers have
probably picked up by now that I’m into
my psychology.)
When you’re in the crowd at the
football, cheering on your team, why do
you interpret every incident diametrically differently to opposition supporter in
the next seat? Why is every umpire’s call
for your team justifiable, and every free
kick the opposition’s way a rank injustice?
How can those supporters not see that our
team is in the right. And how come everything Kevin Rudd gestured was 24-carat
gold but everything Tony Abbot repeated
was a simplistic three-word slogan? Was it
because we were dispassionately weighing
up their arguments, or because we made up
our minds long ago – perhaps our parents
even made them up for us – and we simply
barracked all the way through the election
campaign.
A psychologist will tell you that this is all
about a phenomenon known as confirmation bias, which is our natural tendency to
see only the facts that fit our beliefs and to
ignore any that do not.
Me? I believe Collingwood is good and
Carlton is evil. Therefore, coach Mick
Malthouse once he departed the Magpies
and joined the Blues was instantly sitting
at the right hand of Satan, and anything
IRD
LYB
EAR CIALS
SPE

Michael Ellis*

Chinese Herbalist

he says or achieves now I will interpret
through this filthy lens. Now when I hear
a talkback caller label him Mick Itsnotmyfaulthouse, I love it. Working as a doctor is
just like being a detective. A patient comes
in with a collection of symptoms, often
seemingly unconnected, and you have to
organise them into a meaningful pattern
that allows you to form a diagnosis.
A big danger for beginning practitioners is to land on a diagnosis too
hastily, to ignore ambiguous signs or one
odd symptom that doesn’t quite fit the
picture. When you do, you can just about
guarantee that your diagnosis will turn out
to be wrong. The odd symptom was the
key. Your confirmation bias blinded you to
its significance.
There are many other dangers inherent
in this simple psychology. For example, it
allows us to keep hold of fanciful religious
beliefs even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This is not
dangerous in itself, unless they become
extreme beliefs (like thinking that Carlton
is OK). But it does allow us to delude
ourselves. After all, when you boil them
down, hardly anyone’s religious belief is
the same as the next person’s. We can’t all
be right and it’s entirely more likely that
we’re all wrong. As I’ve written before, we

believe what we wish to be true.
A wise person once noted that on a very
basic level, we are what we remember – our
identity depends completely upon all of the
events, people and places we can recall –
to which I might add, we are also what we
believe.
Confirmation bias is big in the media, not
only in the place you’d expect it either (the
Opinion pages) but even in news reports.
That’s because it is impossible for anybody,
including a journalist, to see events any
other way than through the prism of their
existing memories and beliefs.
The way an article is angled, the language
the writer chooses, the emphasis given to
facts, will always be coloured by the reporter’s belief system (and then by that of their
editors). Really, there is no such thing as
unbiased reporting; it’s a journalism school
ideal. Putting all this together, it is no wonder
that it became impossible to discern the
truth in the Essendon supplements scandal.
The truth may have been out there, but it
was obscured by the biases of the various
reporters (many of whom start out with club
allegiances) and the outlets presenting it.
At one point, one major media group
was set on running the case for the prosecution and the other the case for the defence
– neither really presenting the objective
truth. Supporters mostly split down club
lines, Bombers on one side and non-Bombers on the other. It was impossible to find
anyone you could be confident was presenting a reasoned position, because of all the
confirmation biases at play. Is there a health
message in all this? How about this one:
don’t believe everything you think.
* Michael Ellis is a registered Chinese herbalist
in Mt Eliza. Visit: www.mtelizaherbal.com.

ANOTHER PROUDLY FRANKSTON EVENT

MARKETS

Value leverage and staying power
Funds management can be a very good business. As long as the market
has faith in a manager’s ideas, methods and nose for value, fund owners
can extract extraordinary leverage.
Kerr Neilson co-founded Platinum Asset
Management (PTM) less than 20 years
ago. His 57.8 per cent is now worth almost
exactly $2 billion. Neilson’s reputation as
the BT head dealer who anticipated the
1987 crash put the wind behind Platinum’s
sails for many years. Its international funds
became standard issue for financial planners.
Neilson doesn’t claim perfection and is frank
about the inevitable selection or timing
mistakes, but the record is exemplary across
10 funds with annual performance of eight
over 11 per cent. Neilson’s recent China
report is sharply etched, pointing to the key
issues of the great credit expansion (now 200
per cent of GDP), industrial over-capacity,
rising wages and “late payment”. He sees
the sprawling SOE’s as sucking up economic
oxygen and believes the transition from
asset investment to consumption to save the
economy will be “bumpy”.
Despite this strong record and $20 billion
under management, many planners and
institutions have switched their vote to two
new heroes, Chris Mackay and Hamish
Douglass at Magellan Funds Management.
Both are very experienced investors with
a strong belief in the “value investing”
approach of Warren Buffet and his partner
Charles Munger of Berkshire Hathaway
fame. (Neilson is more of a trader and
hedger). Initially support was low but their
relatively simple three-pronged stratagem
of contra-cyclical investment in big US and
international brands, stocks that would lift

Richard Campbell*
Stock Analyst

with a recovery in US housing, and stocks
controlling electronic transactions gradually
became a winner on steroids. The massive
stimulus offered by ultra low interest rates
underwrote share prices and an avalanche of
in-flows began. As funds rose from $3 billion
to the current $16-17 billion, investors
grasped the leverage potential. On top of
base fees charged no matter what happens,
performance fees are charged on bettering
market performance by 10 per cent plus
some. The share price rose three-fold, then
seven-fold. Next year profits are expected to
double which explains the big gap between
earnings per share and the share price – over
40 times. Magellan is enthusiastic about
the resilience of US corporations and the US
system, but whether it comes to grips with
the next phase as QE “tapers” is another
matter. The US Reserve now has to gradually
off-load all the securities it has been buying
with “stroke-of-the- keyboard-money” and
not puncture markets.
One fund manager that does have “value
investment” characteristics itself is our own
big financial brand AMP but, as the latest
result shows, a strong brand is not quite not
enough. On one measure profit fell 10 per
cent. It is growing solidly with funds flow up
20 per cent this year and it has the largest
fleet of financial planners, but its roots are

still in insurance which is no longer popular.
Many are cashing in term policies. There is
also fundamental incompatibility between the
insurance mind-set and the rapidly growing
Australian interest in DIY superannuation.
AMP is going after that market in a facilitation role, but so are many others.
Challenger Financial Services (CFG) is
taking a more specialist approach with its
annuity products. It writes about 80 per
cent of all the local annuities – often recommended by AMP planners. With the increasing volatility of the Australian share market,
compatibility with pensions and demographic
changes as the baby boomers retire, annuities
are growing rapidly and still represent only
about two per cent of fund flows. Challenger’s retail and wholesale product flow was up
18 per cent. It is also adding boutique fund
managers to get some of the performance
leverage enjoyed by Platinum, Magellan and
their ilk. FUM jumped 44 per cent this past
year to early $50 billion, making it ninth in
size and already half AMP’s FUM.
Now CFG holds more than $1 billion in
capital and cash more than required under
APRA’s rules so the financial advice industry
has new-found confidence in the way these
long dated cash flows will be supported. CFG
is conducting a buy back, feels confident
enough to lift the payout and will part-frank
dividends next year. In a country which is
overly weighted to shares at a time when the
US market looks heady and much of China’s
infrastructure debt is non-performing, it
may become a lot more fashionable to hold
annuities.
* Richard Campbell is Executive Director of
Peninsula Capital Management,
Tel. 9642 0545. rcampbell@peninsulacapitalmanagement.com.au

Track energy use online
More than 60 per cent of Australian SMEs worry about their
energy bill and almost 30 per cent are unsure about how to reduce
the amount of energy they use according to a Colmar Brunton
survey commissioned by AGL Energy Limited (AGL).
To help SME customers reduce gas and electricity usage and
save on energy bills AGL has launched an online energy reporting
tool, My AGL IQ.
My AGL IQ tracks energy use, educates employees with targeted
energy saving tips and also builds an energy saving action plan.
AGL general manager of marketing and retail sales Mark
Brownfield said that Australian small businesses were sayings that
energy bills were a concern
“There is an appetite for a comprehensive tool that provides
measurable savings to businesses and educate their employees on
how to save energy,” Brownfield said.
My AGL IQ is available free to all of AGL’s residential and SME
customers via the AGL Energy online portal.

CONSUMERS BRIGHT ABOUT FUTURE

9784 9500

Australian consumers polled in early July believed the economy
will brighten over the next five years, providing welcome news to
retailers.
Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) CEO Margy
Osmond said the 9.2 per cent surge in outlook recorded in the
latest Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment
was the “only real ray of sunshine”.
Osmond said the fall in the index by 0.1 per cent to 102.1 in
July indicated that “consumers seem to be holding their breath on
most major spending with a range of factors creating uncertainty”.
“Usually a bellwether for shifts in spending, the deterioration in
family finance predictions this
month is concerning and illustrates how fragile consumers are in
the current economic conditions.
“Partnered with the continued political uncertainty, the Reserve
Bank of Australia’s decision to keep the cash rate on hold at 2.75
per cent this month has done little to move sentiment.
“Retailers will look to the federal government and the RBA
board to give consumers some certainty in the second half of the
year.
“It’s the small wins that will keep retailers upbeat, figures
showed consumer confidence remained in positive territory in July
with the data showing optimists edged out pessimists and remains
consistently higher than 12 months ago.
“Although consumers lowered their expectations, ‘time to buy
major item’ indexes remain at high levels overall, which highlights
that people are saying they’re generally comfortable to go out and
purchase ‘lumpy’ household items – dropping by a small margin of
1.7 per cent in July,” Osmond said.

TAX RETURNS MAY AID RETIREMENT
138 YOUNG STREET, FRANKSTON

Australians should consider contributing a proportion of any
tax refund to their superannuation nest egg after some basic
forecasting suggested that doing so could deliver a significant

understood how much money they would
need at retirement age in order to meet
their lifestyle goals (51.6 per cent), but
only one third of respondents (32.1 per
cent) said they were making extra contributions to their super fund.
To estimate what a contribution of half
the average tax refund would look like at
retirement age, Club Plus Super assumed
that half the average tax refund for the
year ending 30 June, 2011 (for individuals
receiving a refund and according to the
ATO) earned a rate of return of seven per
cent a year (the 10-year average return a
year from the default investment option
of the median super fund according to
SuperRatings as of 30 April, 2013) and
compounded that figure for a period of 35
years.
Club Plus said that while the final
return was an approximate figure and
may vary due to a number of factors, it
does suggest a significant future return
that may encourage Australians to look
at their tax returns a little differently this
year.

JOBS UP AND JOBLESS, TOO
Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased 0.2 per cent to 5.7 per
cent in June, according to the Australian
Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The ABS reported the number of
people employed increased by 10,300 to
11,668,500 in June.
The increase in employment was due
to increased part-time employment, up
14,800 people to 3,524,100, offset by
decreased full-time employment, down
4400 to 8,144,500. The increase in
total employment was mainly driven by
increases in female part-time and male
part-time employment.
The number of people unemployed
increased by 23,700 people to 709,300
during the month. The ABS monthly
seasonally adjusted aggregate hours
worked series showed an increase in June,
up 8.8 million hours to 1,638.6 million
hours. The seasonally adjusted labour
force participation rate increased by 0.1
per cent to 65.3 per cent.

2327

future return. Club Plus Super, an industry
super fund with more than 100,000
members, has found that if half of the
average tax refund of a 30-year-old was
invested into the average default fund as a
one-off payment, it could be worth about
$12,791 when the contributor was 65.
“That figure relates to investing half
of one year’s tax refund but if individuals
used this strategy for a decade, it may
equate to a future return closer to
$100,000,” said Club Plus Super CEO,
Paul Cahill.
“While it’s easier said than done to
invest half of one’s refund, the reality
is that most Australians won’t have
the money they need for a comfortable
retirement, so tax refunds could prove
to be very valuable in addressing this
problem.”
Recent independent research commissioned by Club Plus Super suggested that
most Australians aren’t making extra
contributions to their superannuation.
Of the 843 fund members surveyed,
more than half of the respondents

Stimulating discretionary effort
Every day, your people make a large number of decisions about how they
will do their jobs.
Little decisions like “how hard will I
work today”, “will I just do the minimum
necessary to stay out of trouble” or “will I
put in some extra effort, today”. Throughout
each day, they make numerous decisions
to either reinforce their earlier decisions or
change them to increase or decrease their
work efforts. As a business leader, your
role is to try to ensure that they are always
biasing these decisions to really make the
extra effort to help your business succeed.
Traditionally, many businesses operated
by having very clear expectations for every
employee with clear job descriptions and
defined performance expectations. Employee
behavior was measured against expectations
and there were negative consequences when
an employee did not perform as expected.
These organisations would perform
acceptably if they had effective supervision,
but without it, the employees were not really
motivated to do more that the minimum
needed to say out of trouble.
If you want to create an environment
where your people make extra effort, the first
step is to identify the systematic barriers that
prevent them from doing so. For example,
one barrier is our traditional system for
payment of overtime, particularly where
the overtime is needed because of process
upsets, mistakes and other reasons within
your operation’s control. In fact, employees
who are asked to work overtime to fix
these sorts of troubles are often motivated
to create the troubles just to get the extra
money associated with the overtime. I had an
opportunity during my career to transition a
large group of employees from an overtimebased system to an annualised salary system.
After this was completed, there were many
stories that came out about how they had
manipulated the overtime system by creating
business upsets that resulted in increased
overtime. Once the financial rewards of
overtime were removed, the operations
generally were much smoother. Examples
like this can illustrate just how important it
is to challenge the basic systems of work if
you are to stimulate the contribution of your
people.
A further key step is to create an
environment where everyone knows that

Hamish Petrie*

Business Consultant

It is not easy to create a business
environment where all of your
people are happy to contribute to
their fullest extent every day, but
the efforts are well worth while
and can be measured in terms of
smoother operations, reduced
supervision, higher productivity
and happier people.
they are respected, even to the extent that
they know that they can debate a business
issue openly, even criticising the business
leader’s decisions, without fear of negative
consequences. This is not easy to do and
it takes continuous positive reaffirmation
from the leader for this to be created and
sustained. Obviously, this is an important
step towards building trust so that they can
feel that it is safe to make a comment or
contribute an idea outside their normal job
scope. When this occurs initially, it is critical
that the business leader respects the positive
intentions by protecting and nurturing the
contributor and the idea. These contributions are opportunities for learning and
business leaders must control their first desire
to just evaluate the idea before thoroughly
understanding it. Once you start this process
of encouraging greater participation in
operational decisions, it is important that
you reinforce behaviors that you want to be
more wide spread. This can be done best by
using real examples where you can reward
the individual contributor and then tell the
story to the whole organisation. Rewards do
not have to be entirely financial, as, often,
non-financial rewards can have greater
impact because your people see that the
extra personal credibility as desirable. Some
organisations have tried this with formal
Employee of the Month type processes, but
you need to be very careful with these, as
they can be difficult to sustain. They can
have a positive impact in their early days,
but often lose credibility over time as the
initial sponsor loses enthusiasm or a new
leader lacks commitment to really support

We are an independent boutique real estate agency servicing the
Mornington Peninsula area & Melbourne’s South Eastern suburbs
from offices in Carrum, Somerville and Baxter, specializing in buyer
advocacy, residential sales, auctions and property management.
For more info check www.realty1.net.au

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As you’d expect the Telstra Digital Business® package connects together your fixed lines, mobile
devices and broadband for a low monthly price.
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are included; data allowances between you and your staff on the same account can be
shared in Australia. And when you’re away from the
office, your work and mobile phone can
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calls to Sensis 1234, 12234 and 12455; third party content calls; Iterra calls; calls to radio paging; calls to Optus MobileSat; calls to InfoCall 190, 19xx and 12xx, 13 (including 1300 and 1345 numbers) and 1900 numbers The components of your
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